BEST (FORMER) RADIO TALK-SHOW HOST (2005)

David Leibowitz

We didn't tune in to David Leibowitz as much as we knew we should. The ads on KTAR are just too obnoxious. But recently, we forced ourselves to sit through demands that we refinance our home or eat at P.F. Chang's, just to hear Leibowitz bat it back and forth with callers who wanted to complain about the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Man, we know Katrina was a bitch, but some of those callers were real assholes! And we loved hearing Leibowitz put them in their place. The other day, Leibowitz dressed down a listener who e-mailed to say that he felt strongly that those people were mooching in New Orleans and now they're mooching in Arizona -- and they should get the hell out of our state and quit "stealing" from us. Leibowitz happily informed the guy that he plans to call the Social Security Administration and tell them to cut off the listener's "handouts" from the government. "Grandpa, Wal-Mart's hiring!" he said, with obvious glee. There's nothing more satisfying than getting in the last word, and Leibowitz always did. And while we loved hearing him tell racist callers to go blow, we were even more impressed this past spring, when Leibowitz deftly handled callers who wanted to lament Terri Schiavo's death. He made sure his opinion was known (he favored pulling life support) but was empathetic to all, and kept the conversation on a lively, productive level. We've watched Leibowitz grow from a kid writing columns at the Tribune to a smart, funny man we're glad to have around. "Real Life With David Leibowitz" vacated the airwaves suddenly, days before BOP went to press. We hope you stick around town, Dave.